In the spring of 2023, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed The Child Victims Act of 2023 into law. With this key legislation, state lawmakers approved providing additional protections for adults who endured sexual abuse as children in Maryland. This includes giving them unlimited time to identify their abusers and pursue civil cases against them. The …
Maryland Senate Committee Passes Child Victims Act – What’s Next?
This week, Maryland’s Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee held an historic vote – to finally approve the passage of the Child Victim’s Act of 2023. This bill would allow child victims of sexual abuse, clergy abuse and otherwise, to bring a cause of action against their perpetrators and their institutional accomplices. Most survivors can’t sue past …
New Online Grassroots Petition Urges Passage of “Long Overdue” Law To Ensure Justice for Maryland Sexual Abuse Survivors
It appears to be a new day in Annapolis, as support appears to be building in Annapolis and now online – through a newly-launched online grassroots petition endorsing passage of Maryland’s “long overdue” proposed HB 1, the Child Victims Act of 2023. We support all forms of citizen engagement, the latest of which is the …
Maryland Senate Committee Considers Amending Statute of Limitations for Child Sexual Abuse Survivors
Yesterday in Annapolis, the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee heard presentations by advocates for the reform of Maryland’s statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual assault. I attended the hearing with my paralegal, Mary Beth Diaz, to support the survivors in their quest to achieve transparency, healing, and justice. We met one of our …
Jenner Law Is Holding those Responsible for Clergy Sexual Abuse Accountable
In November 2022, the Circut Court of Baltimore City revealed that 158 clergy members from the Archdiocese of Baltimore had sexually abused victims over the past 80 years. The Archdiocese failed to respond appropriately to this crisis. It failed to remove abusive clergy members and covered up instances of sexual abuse. At Jenner Law, we …
The Baltimore Sun Names Sexual Abuse Survivors, “Marylanders of the Year”
Today The Baltimore Sun has chosen the survivors of sexual abuse and their supporters seeking to hold the Catholic Church accountable as the 2022 Marylanders of the Year. Photographs of two of our pro bono clients, Michelle Stanton and Donna Vondenbosch, are prominently featured. We could not be prouder of them, and all of the …
Archdiocese of Baltimore Clergy Abuse – Support for Survivor-Justice Legislation
Last week our legal team asked a Baltimore Circuit Court judge to release a sealed Grand Jury Report on pervasive, serial sexual abuse within the Baltimore Archdiocese. We commend a leading Maryland State Senator for supporting a proposal to give childhood sexual assault and abuse survivors, including those victimized over decades by Archdiocese priests, the …
Archdiocese of Baltimore – Clergy Sexual Abuse – Jenner Law Press Conference
This afternoon Jenner Law and our co-counsel from Grant & Eisenhofer held a joint press conference, alongside sexual assault and abuse survivors, to announce our latest legal action on behalf of survivors of clergy abuse. Our clients, survivors of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and their advocates, are demanding the courts release a 456-page …
Probe of Baltimore Archdiocese Finds More Than 600 Clergy Sex Abuse Victims
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office is completing work on a four-year investigation of allegations of abuse in the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, committed by priests, teachers and other archdiocese employees. The Archdiocese of Baltimore includes 153 parishes, 40 elementary schools and18 high schools. The Attorney General’s Office has now revealed that more than 600 young victims were subject …